British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, which has been hit by a housing downturn and weakness in the wider economy, may be nationalized, newspapers reported yesterday.
The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail newspapers both reported, citing unnamed sources, that government ministers were considering a nationalization of the troubled bank, little more than a year after the collapse of Northern Rock, which was eventually nationalized earlier this year.
A spokesman for the bank told the Telegraph, however, that it was “fully funded and we are one of the strongest capitalized banks in the UK.”
“As far as the febrile speculation goes, we do not comment on market rumors,” he said.
Bradford & Bingley announced on Thursday that it was cutting 370 jobs, mainly at its mortgage processing center near London, in a bid to save £15 million (US$27.8 million).
A newspaper report last weekend said that Britain’s Financial Services Authority was in secret negotiations to facilitate the bank’s acquisition.
Bradford & Bingley last month revealed net losses of £17.2 million for the first half of this year, attributing them to “turbulence in the banking and housing sectors.”
It also said last month that its shareholders had agreed to buy just under 28 percent of a new share issue aimed at raising £400 million.
If it were nationalized, it would likely draw parallels to Northern Rock, which requested emergency funding from the Bank of England last September when it could not raise sufficient funds, and was taken into government care months later.
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